Constructing Power in Augustus Rome Augustus Res Gestae

Transcription

1 Romans in f cus Constructing Power in Augustus Rome Augustus Res Gestae Below are some extracts from Augustus autobiographical account of his achievements, the res gestae divi augusti - the deeds of divine Augustus. It was written just before Augustus death in 14 AD. This text was displayed after Augustus death on bronze plaques outside of his mausoleum in Rome. The Res Gestae was copied and translated onto monuments in various Eastern cities across the empire. Our copy survives from a temple in Turkey. A copy of the text can now be seen outside the Ara Pacis museum in the city of Rome (just opposite the mausoleum where it was originally displayed). Left: ancient copy of the Res Gestae on temple in Ankara (Turkey). Right: copy outside Ara Pacis Museum (Rome). What do these sections say to you about Augustus, his wealth and the city of Rome? What variety of things did he spend his money on? What kind of impression do you think this would have made on the Roman population? What do you think the point might have been of displaying this text after his death? Res Gestae Section 5 non recusavi in summa frumenti penuria curationem annonae, quam ita administravi, ut intra paucos dies metu et periclo praesenti populum universam liberarem impensa et cura mea. consulatum quoque tum annuum et perpetuum mihi delatum non recepi. I did not decline at a time of the greatest scarcity of grain the responsibility of the grain-supply, which I so administered that, within a few days, I freed the entire people, at my own expense, from the fear and danger in which they were. I did not accept the consulship - either yearly, or for life -, which was then offered to me.

2 Res Gestae Section 15 plebei Romanae viritim HS trecenos numeravi ex testamento patris mei et nomine meo HS quadringenos ex bellorum manibiis consul quintum dedi, iterum autem in consulatu decimo ex patrimonio meo HS quadringenos congiari viritim pernumeravi, et consul undecimum duodecim frumentationes frumento privatim coempto emensus sum, et tribunicia potestate duodecimum quadringenos nummos tertium viritim dedi. quae mea congiaria pervenerunt ad hominum millia numquam minus quinquaginta et ducenta. tribuniciae potestatis duodevicensimum, consul XII, trecentis et viginti millibus plebis urbanae sexagenos denarios viritim dedi. et colonis militum meorum consul quintum ex manibiis viritim millia nummum singula dedi; acceperunt id triumphale congiarium in colonis hominum circiter centum et viginti millia. consul tertium decimum sexagenos denarios plebei quae tum frumentum publicum accipiebat dedi; ea millia hominum paullo plura quam ducenta fuerunt. To the Roman plebs I paid out three hundred sesterces per man in accordance with the will of my father, and in my own name in my fifth consulship I gave four hundred sesterces apiece from the spoils of war; a second time, moreover, in my tenth consulship I paid out of my own patrimony four hundred sesterces per man by way of bounty, and in my eleventh consulship I made twelve distributions of food from grain bought at my own expense, and in the twelfth year of my tribunician power I gave for the third time four hundred sesterces to each man. These largesses of mine reached a number of persons never less than two hundred and fifty thousand. In the eighteenth year of my tribunician power, as consul for the twelfth time, I gave to three hundred and twenty thousand of the city plebs sixty denarii apiece. In the colonies of my soldiers, as consul for the fifth time, I gave one thousand sesterces to each man from the spoils of war; about one hundred and twenty thousand men in the colonies received this triumphal largesse. When consul for the thirteenth time I gave sixty denarii apiece to the plebs who were then receiving public grain; these were a little more than two hundred thousand persons.

3 Res Gestae Section 19 curiam et continens ei Chalcidicum templumque Apollinis in Palatio cum porticibus, aedem divi Iuli, Lupercal, porticum ad circum Flaminium, quam sum appellari passus ex nomine eius qui priorem eodem in solo fecerat, Octaviam, pulvinar ad circum maximum, aedes in Capitolio Iovis Feretri Iovis Tonantis, aedem Quirini, aedes Minervae et Iunonis Reginae et Iovis Libertatis in Aventino, aedem Larum in summa sacra via, aedem deum Penatium in Velia, aedem Iuventatis, aedem Matris Magnae in Palatio feci. I built the curia and the Chalcidicum adjoining it, the temple of Apollo on the Palatine with its porticoes, the temple of the deified Julius, the Lupercal, the portico at the Circus Flaminius which I allowed to be called Octavia after the name of him who had constructed an earlier one on the same site, the state box at the Circus Maximus, the temples on the capitol of Jupiter Feretrius and Jupiter Tonans, the temple of Quirinus, the temples of Minerva, of Juno the Queen, and of Jupiter Libertas, on the Aventine, the temple of the Lares at the highest point of the Sacra Via, the temple of the Di Penates on the Velia, the temple of Youth, and the temple of the Great Mother on the Palatine. Use the interactive map at digitalaugustanrome.org to locate these buildings. What do you make of the writing style of the Res Gestae? Is it an engaging read? Why (not)?

4 Res Gestae Section 21 in privato solo Martis Ultoris templum forumque Augustum ex manibiis feci. theatrum ad aedem Apollinis in solo magna ex parte a privatis empto feci, On my own ground I built the temple of Mars Ultor and the Augustan Forum from the spoils of war. On ground purchased for the most part from private owners I quod sub nomine M. Marcelli generi mei built the theatre near the temple of Apollo which was to bear the name of my son- esset. dona ex manibiis in Capitolio et in-law Marcus Marcellus. From the spoils in aede divi Iuli et in aede Apollinis et in of war I consecrated offerings on the Capitol, and in the temple of the divine Julius, and in the temple of Apollo, and in the temple of Vesta, and in the temple of Mars Ultor, which cost me about one hundred million sesterces. In my fifth consulship I remitted thirty-five thousand pounds weight of coronary gold contributed by the municipia and the colonies of Italy, and thereafter, whenever I was saluted as imperator, I did not aede Vestae et in templo Martis Ultoris consacravi, quae mihi constiterunt HS circiter milliens. auri coronari pondo triginta et quinque millia municipiis et colonis Italiae conferentibus ad triumphos meos quintum consul remisi, et postea, quotienscumque imperator appellatus sum, aurum coronarium non accepi decernentibus municipiis et colonis aeque benigne adque antea decreverant. accept the coronary gold, although the municipia and colonies voted it in the same kindly spirit as before. Left: Forum of Augustus (Rome). Right: theatre of Marcellus (Rome).

5 Res Gestae Section 22 ter munus gladiatorium dedi meo nomine et quinquiens filiorum meorum aut nepotum nomine, quibus muneribus depugnaverunt hominum circiter decem millia. bis athletarum undique accitorum spectaculum populo praebui meo nomine et tertium nepotis mei nomine. ludos feci meo nomine quater, aliorum autem magistratuum vicem ter et viciens. pro conlegio XV virorum magister conlegii collega M. Agrippa ludos saeclares C. Furnio C. Silano cos. feci. Consul XIII ludos Martiales primus feci quos post id tempus deinceps insequentibus annis s.c. et lege fecerunt consules. venationes bestiarum Africanarum meo nomine aut filiorum meorum et nepotum in circo aut in foro aut in amphitheatris populo dedi sexiens et viciens, quibus confecta sunt bestiarum circiter tria millia et quingentae. Three times in my own name I gave a show of gladiators, and five times in the name of my sons or grandsons; in these shows there fought about ten thousand men. Twice in my own name I furnished for the people an exhibition of athletes gathered from all parts of the world, and a third time in the name of my grandson. Four times I gave games in my own name; as representing other magistrates twenty-three times. For the college of quindecemvirs, as master of that college and with Marcus Agrippa as my colleague, I conducted the Secular Games in the consulship of Gaius Furnius and Marcus Silanus. In my thirteenth consulship I gave, for the first time, the games of Mars, which, since that time, the consuls by decree of the senate have given in successive years in conjunction with me. In my own name, or that of my sons or grandsons, on twenty-six occasions I gave to the people, in the circus, in the forum, or in the amphitheatre, hunts of African wild beasts, in which about three thousand five hundred beasts were slain. Fresco from Merida (Spain) showing beast-fighter with spear facing lioness.

6 Res Gestae Section 23 navalis proeli spectaclum populo dedi trans Tiberim in quo loco nunc nemus est Caesarum, cavato solo in longitudinem mille et octingentos pedes, in latitudinem mille et ducenti, in quo triginta rostratae naves triremes aut biremes, plures autem minores inter se conflixerunt; quibus in classibus pugnaverunt praeter remiges millia hominum tria circiter. I gave the people the spectacle of a naval battle beyond the Tiber, at the place where now stands the grove of the Caesars, the ground having been excavated for a length of eighteen hundred and a breadth of twelve hundred feet. In this spectacle thirty beaked ships, triremes or biremes, and a large number of smaller vessels met in conflict. In these fleets there fought about three thousand men exclusive of the rowers. Left: Detail of a fresco from the Temple of Isis (Pompeii), showing a Roman trireme. Right: reconstructed model.